John Stephen Clifton

FInstP Fellowship of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) is "the highest level of membership attainable" by physicists who are members of the Institute of Physics (IoP), "for those with a degree in physics or related subject (or equivalent knowledge gained ...

, FIPEM (April 1930 – 20 January 2023) was a British

medical physicist A medical physicist is a health professional with specialist education and training in the concepts and techniques of applying physics in medicine and competent to practice independently in one or more of the subfields (specialties) of medical phys ...

Early life and education

Clifton studied at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

, graduating in 1955 and then worked at the

Royal South Hants Hospital The Royal South Hants Hospital, known locally as "The RSH", is a community hospital in Southampton. It is managed by NHS Property Services. History The hospital was founded as a voluntary hospital in 1835 and moved into its first premises in ...

Career

In 1957 he obtained a position at

University College Hospital Medical School UCL Medical School is the medical school of University College London (UCL) and is located in London, United Kingdom. The School provides a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education programmes and also has a medical educati ...

becoming head of the medical physics department in 1962. The school merged with

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

and he became Professor of Medical Physics. In 1990, he was appointed Joel Professor of Physics Applied to Medicine at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1990, becoming Emeritus upon retirement. Clifton served as president of the Hospital Physicists' Association (now the

Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine The Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) is the United Kingdom's British professional bodies, professional body and learned society for physicists, engineers and technologists within the field of medicine, founded in 1995, cha ...

) from 1976 to 1978, and as honorary editor of "

Physics in Medicine and Biology ''Physics in Medicine & Biology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed medical journal covering research on the application of physics to medicine, physiology, and biology. It was established in 1956 and is published by IOP Publishing on behalf of the Insti ...

" from 1979 to 1983. He was the founding President of the European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics (EFOMP) from 1980 to 1984, having proposed its establishment in 1978. He was a

Fellow of the Institute of Physics Fellowship of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) is "the highest level of membership attainable" by physicists who are members of the Institute of Physics (IoP), "for those with a degree in physics or related subject (or equivalent knowledge gained ...

(FInstP), and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (FIPEM).

Death

Clifton died on 20 January 2023, at the age of 92.

Awards and recognition

The John Clifton Prize, initiated in 2011, is awarded by University College London "for the most outstanding performance by a non-final-year undergraduate", in his honour.

References

External links

* 1930 births 2023 deaths Place of birth missing Fellows of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine Fellows of the Institute of Physics Medical physicists British medical researchers Alumni of the University of Southampton Academics of University College London Academics of the University of London {{UK-med-bio-stub